‘Silent worker’ is new Scout Ranger chief

From Malaya Business Insight (Jan 11): ‘Silent worker’ is new Scout Ranger chief

A SENIOR officer who took part in campaigns against communist New People’s Army rebels and Abu Sayyaf bandits is the new commander of the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment.

Col. William Gonzales assumed the post last Monday in rites led by Army chief Lt. Gen. Rolando Bautista and held at the headquarters of the Army’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

The turnover was held jointly with the assumption of Maj. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista as SOCOM chief.

“He is a silent worker but he delivers,” Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ray Tiongson said of Gonzales, who holds a master’s degree in management.

Gonzales, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1989, replaced Brig. Gen. Rene Glenn Paje who is now Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for civil military operations.

Gonzales served as the Army’s assistant chief of staff for education and training, as commandant of the Officer Candidate School of the Army’s Training and Doctrine command, and commander of the 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion that was deployed in the Bicol region to go after communist rebels.

The battalion was later sent to Basilan, a bailiwick of the Abu Sayyaf, and achieved feats against the terrorist group with Gonzales at the helm.

A PMA classmate of Gonzales, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the new Scout Ranger chief as a “true-blue Ranger.”

“While in the field, he is always operating, engaged in internal security operations,” the official said of Gonzales, who he said finished a Ranger course from United States.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/%E2%80%98silent-worker%E2%80%99-new-scout-ranger-chief